Why it's a stupid decision to run street tires in the dirt

cyclemike4

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ky
All I see are pictures with the bike upright and one with it stuck in sand. How about the ones of the front end washing out and spitting you off the bike. I see in the mud picture that the tire is clogged with mud. No thank you. And I too have experience with the Super Tenere off road. Miles in the saddle mean nothing if proper technique is not being used.

Showing how good a subpar tire works in extreme conditions is the same as a base jumper saying how safe it is to jump off a cliff. The facts speak for themselves. There is no safer tire made for off highway use than an open block knobby.

If you take notice, first it was the K60 for a few years. Then the E07 became the internet craze. In the off road world trials tires were all the rage. All three of those tires turned out to have far more drawbacks than advantages in the dirt.





Simply have a set of these on your bike:
View attachment 62657
It will break the hardest of beads. Then its just normal mounting. Without a tube or mousse to deal with these tubeless tires are very simple.
No need to show you how. There are a bunch of different ways to change a tire.
I have a set of those bead breakers and they do work very well. I carry them on any long trip i take. Be very careful with the Tenere rims though. I had a tire that was on there for about 14000 miles and was stuck pretty good. I bent the edge of the rim out before it would push the tire off the bead.
 
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ballisticexchris

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I have a set of those bead breakers and they do work very well. I carry them on any long trip i take. Be very careful with the Tenere rims though. I had a tire that was on there for about 14000 miles and was stuck pretty good. I bent the edge of the rim out before it would push the tire off the bead.
You do have to know how to work those bead breakers. It takes a little patience and moving around the rim before the bead pops.

Chris I am not in the least bit disagreeing that knobbies are the next best thing to chocolate. [or is that coffee]
I have grown up on knobbies, and I can't wait till my knobbies hit the dirt again this spring.
I started riding and racing motocross as a kid and haven't lost the desire yet. I get on a track every chance I get.
And I know the advantage to new sharp knobs.
Come on spring!
It's cool. We all have our comfort zone on what feels safe. Catching air and stuffing my bike into corners is something I'm not willing to risk anymore. I stopped doing that kind of riding in my 30's. I have nothing to prove to anyone. I'm just out to enjoy myself with minimal risk to injuries. I was really sad to get rid of my well sorted KTM 300. It was time. I'm still fairly fit but have to be honest with myself. "Money Shots" of me doing stuff on a dirt bike does not appeal to me. Even when I was younger it was all about the ride and having fun.

Hence the reason for a knobby on this beast. I'm in my comfort zone and really like the feel and handling characteristics of this bike when proper tires are mounted. I am not willing to compromise even a little bit at the risk of losing traction.
 

gv550

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Listowel, Ontario, Canada
Holligl, Navynuke and I rode Four Peaks mountain road today, 5770 ft with plenty of dirt, rocks, some water crossings, mud, snow and ice.
Navy (Ken) had his well seasoned Tenere shoed with Conti Attack street tires and he showed us (well me) some very fine riding. 4 peaks 2.jpg
 

Checkswrecks

Ungenear to broked stuff
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Holligl, Navynuke and I rode Four Peaks mountain road today, 5770 ft with plenty of dirt, rocks, some water crossings, mud, snow and ice.
Navy (Ken) had his well seasoned Tenere shoed with Conti Attack street tires and he showed us (well me) some very fine riding. View attachment 62666
A fine example that for YOU guys on THIS day YOU felt comfortable so those tires were the right tool for YOU.
 

navynuke

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La Habra, CA
Not the right tool really, going back to knobs in 5 ir 6 weeks, but tgey are passable if you adjust your lines etc to accommodate them.

I did sqush/slude a bit on the mud where i shouldn't have

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
 

Dirt_Dad

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the next Alaska Trip was in 2018 on a set of Mitas E07 Dakar’s which in my opinion was a much better choice for when the riding gets a little more difficult, but we never had any difficult riding on that trip.
By the time my wife and I hit Chicken, Alaska the E07 Dakars had about 5K miles on them. Pouring rain all during breakfast there in Chicken. The rain, mixed with the road construction made for a mud pit mess unlike anything my wife has ever ridden, even on her dirt bike. 5' 6" tall woman, too small for her Tenere which was fully (over) loaded for a 3 week, 7K mile trip, riding through mud that would have made here uncomfortable on her XT250. Those "terrible" E07s allowed her to stay upright and make it through a section she later called the Road of Doom.

Sure, we could have been starting our 3rd set of knobbies at that point of the trip, which would have cost us significant change time, so we wouldn't have made it to Chicken by that day, and possibly we would have missed the rain all together. Gee, now I feel silly for using those ill advised tires for the entire trip...and thousands of miles after getting home. :rolleyes:
 

VRODE

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Choices.
You make yours, I make mine.
You make yours for valid (to you) reasons, as do I. And we live with the results.
It’s easy to second guess afterwards, but if everyone did everything in the same manner, life wouldn’t be as much of an adventure I don’t think.
I’ll make my choices, and take my chances.
(And yes, knobbys would be my choice for dirt, but I can’t ignore a whole slew of other considerations)
 

Cycledude

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Rib lake wi
so Chris do you use the aluminum 11 inch bead breakers or the steel 16 inch ? Since you say Tenere Tire’s are as easy to change as bicycle tires I’m wondering how durable those knobbie tires you use actually are ?





Simply have a set of these on your bike:
View attachment 62657
It will break the hardest of beads. Then its just normal mounting. Without a tube or mousse to deal with these tubeless tires are very simple.
No need to show you how. There are a bunch of different ways to change a tire.[/QUOTE]
 
Last edited:
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ballisticexchris

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so Chris do you use the aluminum 11 inch bead breakers or the steel 16 inch ? Since you say Tenere Tire’s are as easy to change as bicycle tires I’m wondering how durable those knobbie tires you use actually are ?
I'm using the small Motion Pro ones. For me there is zero difference in mounting difficulty of any tire regardless of bead stiffness. It's the UHD tubes, double rim locks, and Mousse's that consume the most time. As long as I can get the tire in the drop center of the rim then removing and mounting is super easy. The Super Tenere rims have a super deep drop center that really helps.

So far the tire durability is pretty darn good (for a knobby). It's a radial so less unsprung weight. I was amazed how light these are compared to the OEM ones. When I was rolling through the AZ Strip I did not get a flat. I was expecting one due to the very sharp rocks. I took the BLM officers advice and followed the speed limits.

My riding style is really strange compared to most. I'm always looking for traction. I'm not much of a wheel spinner. So no chunking on the knobs. Even in medium deep sand and silt I was able to get through without turning the traction control all the way off.

This is what the rear looks like at just about 2500 miles. As you can see these tires are not impervious to cuts and slices. For anyone interested, new tread depth was 7.5mm front/9.5mm rear. They are now at 6.4mm front/4.8mm rear. Not bad and the knobs are still sharp. I'm not much of a corner carver so the nubs are still on the chicken strips.
26B307B1-2F01-40A7-A899-59366D7920DE.jpeg
A59571B6-39B9-4DE3-9CE8-59AB5ED296B7.jpeg


I also have a set of Eastbound modular spoons/bead breakers I'll be trying out on the next tire change.

EC2A6381-E7EC-41DE-BF80-7244638CE4E8.jpeg
Th bottom one is on backwards but you get the idea
AC3DFC5C-A0C5-4CA1-A786-5918A1404601_1_201_a.jpeg
This configuration is amazing!! I have used it once already for installing my rising links. It's a back/leg and time saver when servicing suspension or removing/installing the axle and wheel.
87A96C45-A136-4BFB-9C8D-910DF22E9FE0.jpeg
 
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